Finally we reached the last section of the ski portion. However, it did not quite go as planned. Also from the Columbia Icefields it was just Liam and Jake. Once again, here are some pictures and stories.

The Amazing Waxers and their friend Andrea! They brought us the spare skis and most importantly FOOD! We can still taste the strawberries and apple cider…Mmmm. Thank You So Much!

Liam’s Dad also came by with Apple Pie and some beer. Sometime at night, Liam still dreams of that Apple Pie…Thanks Dad!

Jake’s Mom also supplied Food and Beer. It was most wonderful…:) She also met us at the end in Lake Louise with our summer gear. Thank you Nancy!

Once again we tried to return onto the Columbia Icefields. However – it just was not our luck…Jake’s binding broke. Again. We did not want to spend the time waiting for another spare piece, so we decided to walk along the highway to Saskatchewan Crossing. Fun Times.

Walking along the Highway. We actually got a lot of waves and thumbs up. Sometimes people would stop to see if we wanted a ride. They didn’t understand when we refused and simply said, “No Thanks, We’re Walking…” People would even stop to see what we were doing. I think skiing excites people. If we had just had climbing stuff, I doubt people would have stopped or cared.

A delish sandwich from a passing Ben Waxer and his girlfriend- it was the most amazing thing! Thank You!

A nice little camp spot, eh?

Jake eating a hot sauce package at Saskatchewan Crossing. So what?

Liam’s dad joined us for a few days. He brought the replacement part for the ski binding from the Norseman Ski Shop in Calgary (Thank you Dave & Anthony for your speedy delivery to Jasper! 🙂 ). We left the highway at Mistaya Canyon and followed the Howse River to Howse Pass, where we hoped to reach snow again. Dad of course brought some goodies – including beer donated from Jill Seaton, he even offered to carry it in…A Huge Thanks to both Jill and Liam’s Dad!

The trail up the Howse River is no longer maintained. There were many blow downs. The going was slow.

And Painful. The skis made everything frustrating.If I don’t have skis on my backpack, I will never complain about bushwhacking again…(At least for the moment).

Our Backpacks were still heavy. First Liam fell and then his Dad went down. They remained in that position for quite sometime…

Crossing a beaver Dam.

Dinner. Not bad, eh? Cheese. Wonderful wonderful cheese.

The Howse River Food Cache was still there! Huzzah!

The Food. Originally Meghan and Ben were still suppose to be skiing with us, so there were rations for 4. Now there was only Liam and Jake, with Liam’s Dad for a few days. We entered a bizarro world. The first half of the trip, we rationed, we got hungry. We bickered over who got to lick the pot clean. Now we gorged and ate and ate. We bickered over who had to finish the food left in the pot. I think during this portion, we actually gained weight. I mean, we were eating five chocolate bars a day.

Here we are heading off to climb Mount David. Unfortunately this involved two large creek crossings…Jake and Liam decided to tackle the frosty beasts in their undies.

They were remarkably unpleasant.

A view looking towards Howse Pass and the Wapta beyond. Our Road.

Liam’s Dad leading the way up Mount David. You can see the route to the Freshfields Icefield in the background, over the lake.

The three adventurers on the summit of Mount David. Incidentally, Liam’s Dad is also named David. So of course this was “his” mountain. Well Done Dad! Liam also got to leave a register here – instead of hurling it into a crevasse after carrying it for 300 km…He. Was. So. Stoked!

Howse Pass. Now it was just Liam and Jake to Lake Louise.

The trail coming down the Blaeberry River was much better than the one on Howse. However, it was still rough and maintained little.

We’re skiing! Huzzah! Just have to avoid the puddles and bare patches…

It was rather unsettling skiing past flowers (Glacier Lillies). WeDidNotApprove!

The trail down the Blaeberry was not all Sunshine and Lollipops.

—“What do we say to the River Jake?…Not Today”.

Candy sent to us from Norway – Thank You Andreas! We enjoyed it on the summit of Mount Baker, located on the Wapta Icefield. Yum Yum!

The ridge on Mt. Baker. It was a tad steep!

Liam all tuckered out at Peyto Hut on the Wapta. This is what happens when he thinks his skin has “toughened” and he doesn’t need sunscreen anymore. When in fact he really does…He got so hot and bothered then very very sleepy.

The Food Cache at Bow Hut! Huzzah!

The summit ridge up to St. Nick. It also was a tad steep…

The summit ridge on Mt. Balfour. What a beauty!

The Summit of Balfour on the Wapta Traverse.

The Summit ridge on Mt. Lilliput. We did a few peaks while on the Wapta…When your end goal is 6000 km away, it is hard to rush. 🙂

The last day to Lake Louise. Looking towards lofty summits.

The skiing to the Trans Canada was excellent. There still is a lot of snow and we could ski to within sight of the highway.

The final 15 km to Lake Louise. Some of it was along the railway.

The old Highway 1A – Cool eh?

The final bend-over with skis before the hostel…Thank Goodness.

Huzzah! Lake Louise! Only 40 Days for a 3 hour car ride…

Soon after this picture was taken we went into the hostel to get a room. They had lots of room. And we had money. However, we did not have any ID. The hostel’s policy is that you HAVE to have ID to get a room. They were unbending on this. It didn’t matter that we had skied there. It didn’t matter that we hadn’t showed in 40 days. And it didn’t matter that it was BLISTERING HOT and all we had were ski-boots that we wouldn’t dare to take off. Of course in retrospect, maybe we should have and gassed the stupid staff to death. Maybe then they would have re-considered. So in our misery, we got some beers while we waited for Jake’s mom to drive to Lake Louise with our summer stuff (and ID). However, we soon were told that we couldn’t drink on their property. I don’t think I like the hostel in Lake Louise. If this is what society is like – Thank Goodness we are going back into the Bushes!

From Fortress we began the Central Rockies Traverse. It really had a mixture of everything. Here are some more pics.

This part was fun along the Wood River. Really. So much Fun. We loved traversing steep slopes for kilometers with little snow through thick bush. We needed a chain saw gosh darn it!

Going up Clemenceau Creek. This was another unpleasant part -the moraine below the Clemenceau Icefield. It had little snow, and there was lots of mud. It was also hot. We had to carry our skis in many places, and we also got covered in mud. Yuck!

Camping below Mt. Clemeceau with Tusk in the background. This was our favorite camp. The view was just tremendous! Tusk is such an amazing peak. So amazing, Liam may even consider going along the Wood River again to try and climb it…maybe. There would have to be lots of candy on the trip for him to make it…

The morning we try for the summit of Clemenceau. It was blue bird. Tusk is on the left.

Navigating through the crevasses on Clemenceau in the morning light. It was a maze!

Liam and Ben on the Summit of Clemenceau (3658 m)- the fourth highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Liam on top of the world. The view was completely 360 – no peak got in the way. 🙂

Jake and Ben descending through some crevasse mazes on the way back to camp.

This is taken the day after Clemenceau – on our way to Apex Mountain. Mount Tsar is on the far left. Tusk is the dark one on the right side.

On the Summit of Apex Mountain. Mt. Clemenceau is on the far left.

Skiing to the Chaba Icefield early in the morning.

Skiing towards Chaba Peak, on the right.

On the way up Chaba Peak – Jake’s binding broke…causing a whirl wind of trouble. Thus Jake and Liam would have to come out at the Columbia Icefields to pick up a spare set of skis. Sigh. At least there was a buffet at the Icefields…Score! And free relish packages…:)

The summit ridge on Chaba.

Jake managed to “fix” the binding, at least to the Icefields Center with wire. Looks pretty good Jake!

Rappelling down Chaba Col – one of the crux’s on the trip.

The Columbia Bypass. We went above the cliffs to the Columbia Icefield. This was a difficult section – very crevassed and steep slopes. This was also the hottest day. We all got hot and very bothered.

Going up the bypass with Mount King Edward in the background.

Digging out the cache on the Columbia! It was deep! More than one Liam (and Meghan) in depth! 🙂

We tried to go up Mt. Columbia in the morning. But soon the mountains became shrouded in clouds…after this picture was taken it soon became a whiteout and we had to navigate by compass and GPS to the road.

And once again – stay tuned for the third section: The Southern Rockies.

At 5:33PM on June 3rd, two figures emerged from the woods. They wore ski boots and carried skis on their backs. They ignored the blooming flowers and budding leaves. After awhile they paused at the “Welcome to Lake Louise” sign. They smiled, slapped hands, and snapped a few pictures. Then they bolted to the hostel for beer, food, and comfort. They had only one thought of concern – the ski boots. Eventually they would have to come off…and the smell could very well close the hostel for health and safety concerns.

Huzzah! We made it to Lake Louise! Finally! It sure has been an adventure thus far folks! Over the next day or so, we will write a few posts. Here are some pictures of the last 40 days – over 400km on snow/ice/road/trail/and bush. For simplicity, we split the traverse into three parts: North, Central, and Southern. Here is the Northern section first.

Liam leaving his DoorStep on April 25th

This was Liam on April 25th. At least, him and his “burden” (aka Gestapo The Backpack). His pack was 92 pounds. He started to have second thoughts…and almost retreated back to his home where he could over indulge in tea and baths. Damn Mexico!

And this was Jake. His pack was 105 pounds. Maybe he should have taken that office job…it would have been air conditioned. And came with cookies during coffee breaks.

On Jake’s DoorStep.

Liam against Gestapo and Gravity. Take One.

Take Two.

Take Three. Success!

The four of us at the start. Meghan, Liam, Ben, and Jake. Little did they know what adventure had in store for them…

Having Creme Broule at Wates Gibson Hut in the Tonquin. Thank You Meghan!

The Hooker Icefield. Our Road.

The gravel flats by Scott Glacier. This area receives little snow and loses it quickly. It was also hot. Hot hot!

Camped below the Hooker as the storm moved in.

5 Days Later…

Finally on the Hooker! Descending to Camp.

Camping on the Hooker.

Selfie. Most days Jake got a nosebleed. Whatever from remains a mystery…Liam and his110 SPF sunscreen. The greatest thing invented since Fire and Sliced Bread.

Packing up Camp. And looking towards the Clemenceau Icefield.

Looking towards Fortress Lake and our wonderful/delish food cache

Digging out the Food Cache at Fortress. It was hard. The snow had turned to Ice…Oh well. At least it was still there. 🙂

And so concludes the Northern Rockies part of the Great Divide Ski Traverse. Stay Tuned for more!